Full Susser, 1500 - 2000. Ish.

Gess

Evening All

Looking for some advice on what full suspension 650b to buy. I've currently got a Rockrider 8.1 hardtail. Great bike, but I tried a full sus last weekend and loved it, so decided to upgrade. The bike I demo'ed was a Rocky Mountain Altitude 750 (http://www.ubyk.co.uk/rocky-mountain-altitude-750-msl-2015/21527), which is above my budget but I want to get as close as possible to the ride-enjoyment for up to £2000 so thought I'd run my current options past your good selves. I mostly ride red routes in the south of Scotland - Glentress, Mabie, Ae etc, with a bit of XC thrown in.

Current options are:

Bird Aeris - either the 3 or the 2. The price of the 3 is easier on the wallet but is the 2 worth the extra? I'm only upgrading from a hardtail so I'm sure both will be a noticeable difference, but will the 3 be a disappointment after the Rocky Mountain? I can use the Cycle Scheme on these bikes so would save about £350 on retail price (I'm allowed to top-up over the £1000 limit). Link to specs - http://www.birdmtb.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Aeris-Launch-Pricing-23092014.pdf

Canyon Spectral AL 7.0 EX - looks fantastic, but doesn't qualify for Cycle Scheme so works out more than the Bird - https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/bikes/bike-detail.html?b=3790

Scott 740 - I know this won't win many votes but I've always liked Scott's, and I'd probably be able to go and see one in the flesh, unlike the other two...is it much worse value?? I'd be able to get this on Cycle Scheme so again about £350 off the price. http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m1b0s183p6222/SCOTT-Spark-740-2015.

I've looked at loads of other options - Radon, Rose, Vitus etc, but I think these are the three I'm down to unless I'm missing something...

Any advice very much appreciated!

Thanks

rockmonkeysc

That's three very different bikes. The Bird is closer to enduro, the Canyon is a pretty dull trail bike and the Scott is closer to a traditional xc bike.
If you want to cover loads of miles for minimum effort get the Scott. If you want to tear down the trail as fast as possible and put in a little more effort on the climbs go for the Bird. The Canyon is somewhere in between and last year's Nerve was the least inspiring bike I have ridden in a long time but comes with some shiny parts for the price.

Gess

Thanks for the reply, didn’t realise the bikes were so different…still a bit to learn about full suss set-ups…

The most important thing for me is something that is good fun on the trails. I don’t mind putting a bit of effort in going uphill but given that I’m unlikely ever to be tearing downhill enduro/ DH style then maybe 150mm travel is too much? And is the Scott too XC-orientated? Any other options you think are better suited to what I’ll be riding? And I’m not particularly mechanically gifted so buying a frame and building up from there isn’t an option… :?

Thanks

Gess

I did look at the Giant bikes...only problem is my wife's got a Giant, not sure I want to be seen on the trails on his'n'hers bikes... :oops:

The Rookie

The worst reason to not be on the best bike!

Gess

Ah c’mon, gimme a break...almost all of my cycling is with my wife, so would it not the equivalent of those couples you see walking around in the same tracksuits...they might be the best tracksuit in the world, but they still look a little bit sad...

roger_merriman

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19684518#p19684518]Gess[/url] wrote:

Ah c’mon, gimme a break...almost all of my cycling is with my wife, so would it not the equivalent of those couples you see walking around in the same tracksuits...they might be the best tracksuit in the world, but they still look a little bit sad...

the worst is where mr has a nice FS bike and mrs has a cheap hired MTB.....

The Rookie

As long as they are different colours, doesn't matter if they are both Giants? Presumably hers is a Liv anyway?

Gess

Yeah maybe 2 Giants isn't such a big deal. Hers is a Liv Intrigue, the Trance is quite different.

I've actually just been to my LBS to drop off my other bike and he's suggesting a Whyte T130 S (or SX, but the S looks like it's worth the extra £200) http://whyte.bike/gb/models/trail/t-130-trail-suspension-27-5-650b/t-130-s/ with free servicing for life thrown in...a bit more expensive than the Trance but Whyte have been getting decent reviews recently and the free servicing will be worth a few bob over the life of the bike?

Cheers!

Antm81

I'm a bit biased but the Trance is a great bike, the Maestro suspension is very good.

I wouldn't be overly fussed about free servicing, I doubt they'll be including most parts in that, just free labour and to honest the majority of things are easy enough and pretty routine with a MTB as I'm sure you know.

alexjim

Hi have you look at mondraker dune or foxy?

rockmonkeysc

Since he said that he's not really in to enduro style riding, more like xc/trail the Mondrakers will be a bit overkill and the models within budget have fairly rubbish builds.

Antm81

Just seen the 2016 Trance 2 and a nice improvement on the spec.

Mainly the fork and shock are no longer fox evolution series, now performance series so the fork gets the FIT4 damper which is a big improvement over what mine came with. Also now comes with Giants dropper post too.

Gess

Thanks for all the replies. Going to try and look at a Trance, a T130, and maybe a cube 140 tomorrow. 2016 model trance does look good but you can get a Trance 1 2015 for £1900 so that might be the deciding factor over the 2016 model...

Cheers